(1)
Use
ScanDisk at least once a month Your hard drive may
lose data because it contains errors in sectors or clusters. This occurs when
you don’t shut down your computer correctly or when you disturb it when it is
writing information to the hard drive. You can easily fix errors, bad sectors,
or lost clusters by running Scandisk. This task will take a couple hours – so
get a cup of coffee and read a good book!

In Windows 98, go to Programs, then Accessories, System
Tools, and ScanDisk. Click on Thorough – click Start.

In
Windows 2000 and Windows XP, double-click on My Computer, then
Right-Click on LocalDisk (C), then click on Properties,
then click on Tools. In the Error-checking box, click CheckNow. Click on both boxes and click on Start. You may get
a message that “the disk check could not be performed…” Just click on
Yes and restart the computer and the disk check will begin after
the restart. (Note: Always do a ScanDisk before you do the next task –
Defrag your hard drive).---------------------------------------------------------

(2)
Defragment
your hard drive at least once a month.Your files become
fragmented after you saved and deleted lots files on your hard drive. So your
computer works harder, takes longer to startup and longer to open or close
files. Defrag easy to do and will tune your computer up. Go to Start,
then Programs, then Accessories, then SystemTools,
then Disk Defragmenter. Click on Drive C and then click on
Defragment (click OK in Windows 98). That’s it – it’ll take a while to
finish (depending on the size of your hard drive) – so keep the coffee pot on
and keep reading your book!

Wait –
STOP! It’s a good
idea to dump your temporary internet files before you do a defrag – there
no sense to keeping these files active in a newly defragged hard drive. So –
before you defrag, open up Internet Explorer, click on the Tools
menu, then click on InternetOptions. Click on Delete
Files, and then click on the box next to Delete all offline
content. Now click OK – that’s it – proceed with the defrag!
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(3)
Update
your virus software at least once a week.You do have
anti-virus software – don’t you? If you haven’t purchased anti-virus software,
consider Grisoft’s AVG (http://www.grisoft.com/us/us_dwnl_free.php
) They have an excellent FREE antivirus software package. (They hope
you’ll like it so much that you will buy their retail version for 33 bucks).
Other retail software packages are NortonAntivirus (http://www.symantec.com/purchase/)
and MacafeeVirusScan (http://us.mcafee.com/
). So get anti-virus software and update the definitions at least once a week!
It takes just a minute or two to update your definitions each week. You can
also set you computer to automatically do an update each week.
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(4)
Run Windows Update at
least once a month.
This is really easy! Open up InternetExplorer.
Click on the Tools
menu and then click on WindowsUpdate. You will go to the Window Update webpage.
If a window labeled "Security Warning" appears, place a
checkmark in the box next to the phrase "Always
trust content from Microsoft Corporation"
and click YES.
Click the link that says "Scan
for Updates".
Click the link that says "Review
and install updates".
Click the "Install
Now" button.
* You may get a warning that you can only install certain updates one at a time.
In this case, proceed with update, and repeat the instructions until all
critical updates have been installed.*
Click the "Accept"
button.
The updates will now be downloaded and installed. Once this process has
completed, you will get a window that directs you to restart your computer.
Click OK to reboot.
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(5)
Make backups of your
critical data at least once a monthDon’t take for granted that your computer will run and run and run – and never
crash to the extent that you will lose all your important data. The chances are
– it won’t – but
don’t take the chance.

Develop
a backup strategy. Save all your data in
the My Documents folder. Then determine what hardware to use for backing up
that folder: CD Burner, Zip Disk, External Hard Drive, Floppy disk (that
doesn’t store a lot of data), etc. Then do it – and do it often. If you
have really important data, you may consider making 2 backups.